


Nicotine

by CitrusKageyama



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Angst and Tragedy, Blood and Injury, Cancer, Cigarettes, Drugs Mentioned, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Gang Violence, Gangs, Gangsters, Gun Violence, Heavy Angst, Help, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I've never been to Japan don't kill me, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Never uploaded anything before idk how this works, Sarcasm, Threats of Violence, shinsekai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-08-27 05:05:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8388337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CitrusKageyama/pseuds/CitrusKageyama
Summary: Akaashi is a criminal with a pretty face, and Kuroo soon realises he needs to take a distance from the obviously dangerous boy. What might just have seemed like an adrenaline filled game quickly turns out to be something else, and Kuroo learns that you can't get involved from a distance.





	1. November

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my take on a Haikyuu criminal AU, and it's actually the first fanfic I upload for the internet to see. The main reason I even dare to upload this is probably thanks to Isaure (Sugas.abs on ig) and her amazing feedback on this chapter. Seriously, If you hadn't helped me edit and overlook this I wouldn't even had thought about posting it.. Just a quick note, even though this chapter is pretty much completely safe, this fic will get dark.  
> Now, I really enjoyed writing this short chapter and I hope you'll enjoy reading it just as much!^^

It was dark, then it was light, then it was dark again.

Kuroo was sitting in the moving bus, watching as the light from the street lanterns periodically lit up the empty seats. He was drawing circles on the fogged glass panes, as he liked to do. He had been told as a kid that he shouldn’t, but maybe that was what made it as entertaining as it was. Some people are like that; the more forbidden it was, the more entertaining it felt. Kuroo hated people like that, but he hated admitting that he, himself, was one of those people even more.  
  
 His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a raspy voice, coming from the front of the bus.  
“This is the last stop, kid. Time to get off,” the driver said, obviously longing to get to quit for the night. Kuroo dragged himself out of the seat and tried to focus on getting off the bus without tripping. As soon as he put his feet on the ground, the door slammed shut behind him and the bus skidded off in jerky movements.  
  
He looked around, barely able to make out where he was. All he knew was that he was somewhere in the outskirts of Shinsekai, where working street lanterns apparently wasn’t a thing. Despite growing up in the area, he barely remembered anything about how the place actually looked like, except for broken windows and shabby stores, that was. But because of the high criminality in the area, he’d never been out at night either way.  
  
 It was chillier than Kuroo had expected, he was glad that he had decided to bring a beanie before leaving his old apartment. He picked up his phone and put the earphones in his ears, trying to look for a map at the same time. He was supposed to meet Suga at his  store, but he didn’t actually know where said store was. Luckily, he quickly recognised the streets on the map. It was just a short walk from there, so Kuroo put on his beanie and headed down the pavement.

Kuroo soon found himself in front of the small store, music blasting from his earphones. The cold November air caressed his red cheeks and sent pleasant shivers through his body. It had been raining heavily the past weeks, and the puddles on the ground reflected the light of some nearby street lanterns. Mist appeared in front of him when he breathed out.  
He stepped into the heat of the narrow store, struggling not to knock anything over. The store seemed completely empty, but the intense aroma of coffee hit him immediately.  
  
”Suga, I’m here,” Kuroo half shouted, following the scent of coffee to the back of the store. A silver haired boy appeared, holding a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Even though his eyebrows were furrowed together and his mouth was a straight line across his pale face, he was stunningly beautiful. His bothered face looked a bit lighter when he saw Kuroo, releasing a deep sigh.  
  
”You don’t have to shout you know,” Suga said, placing the cup on the counter. Kuroo snickered and paused the music still blasting in his ears.

”You look kind of stressed, maybe I should come back another day,” Kuroo teased, putting his hands on his hips. Suga shoot him a glare that seemed to say ´ _don’t you dare’,_ as Kuroo smirked, looking around the store. Suga sighed again and made a gesture to the cup on the counter.

”This is my third cup this evening,” he said, rubbing his templates. There was a loud thud behind Suga, and Kuroo could only assume something fairly heavy had just dropped to the ground. His theory was confirmed to be right when he heard a muffled _“shit,”_ coming from Suga who had stuck his head back in the opening he first came out from.  
  
“I’ll be back in a moment, just hold on-“ he was cut off by another thud, and soon there was a following “ _Shit!”_ , considerably louder than the first one. He came back to the counter holding a key, placing it in Kuroo’s open palm. The metal was warm from Suga’s body heat, and Kuroo put it in his pocket.  
  
“I’m afraid you’ll have to walk there yourself,” Suga said, taking a big sip of coffee.  
  
“See you at home then,”

  
  
Suga disappeared back into the opening again and Kuroo started to find his way out of the store. Just as he was about to push the door open, he heard a noise coming from somewhere on his right. He’d thought he and Suga were alone in the store, but he was proved wrong when he saw a young man standing some metres away from him.

  
The man was in a crouched down position and had his back turned to Kuroo, as if hiding what he was doing. Other than his suspicious positioning, there was nothing off with the boy. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a grey hoodie underneath, and skinny jeans showing off his slender legs. Kuroo suddenly got curious with what the young man was doing, and took a step to the left to get a better look. The floor tile beneath him creaked, and the man turned his neck fast as lightning.

  
He was good looking, Kuroo thought to himself. There were slightly curved black strands of hair poking out from under his hoodie, framing his fair face and outstanding cheekbones. He had long black eyelashes, making his narrow grey eyes stand out even more. Just as Suga, he was breathtakingly beautiful. But his beauty was completely different from Suga’s, who always exuded warmth and happiness. The man’s appearance was harder to put a finger on, but Kuroo would describe the aura that he was surrounded by as _mysterious._

  
But the most noticeable about him wasn’t his eyes themselves, it was the way they flashed when looking up at Kuroo, and how they completed the smirk playing on the man’s lips. Yes, that was right, he was smirking. It didn’t look right on his face though, as if it was put there rather than being a natural expression. Kuroo managed to tear his eyes away from the man’s glare, and instead let them travel down to his hands.  
Only then did he realise that the man was reaching out for a package of cigarettes, wrapping his slender fingers around the box. Kuroo looked up at his face again as the man stood up properly, putting the package in one of his pockets without breaking eye contact.  

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have any other excuse for this late update other than writers block, and I'm so so sorry. I plan to update more often, so please don't drop me yet ;-; Jk, tysm to everyone who read the first chapter. And tysm to Isaure once again, you're amazing ♡  
> Enjoy ~~

Kuroo was walking to Sugas apartment. It had all gone according to plan; until Kuroo had bumped into a peculiar raven haired boy. Just some minutes ago he’d been obsessed with the thought of a warm and peaceful bed, but his mind was now clouded with thoughts of the boy. Kuroo told himself that someone as good looking as that probably had an awful personality. But what if that wasn’t true, and he had a personality as flawlessly wonderful as his face? Desperate to find something about the boy that’d put him in another light, Kuroo recalled the scene that had played out earlier. The boy looked up and he had… grabbed a pack of cigarettes? Yes, that must be it; he smoked. Kuroo had always found smokers disgusting, but in his surprise he didn’t find the boy any less appealing. As the scene went on in his head, he got a feeling there was something else off with the young man. And of course there was, Kuroo realised, as he remembered how the boy had stuffed the pack into his pocket. So that was it, the pretty boy turned out to be a thief. It wasn’t surprising, considering the reputation Shinsekai had. Even though some cigarettes barely were anything serious, Kuroo felt rage welling up inside of him. He had never been the superficial type, and he couldn’t believe he had fallen for the boy’s looks like a dumb schoolgirl.

Just as he was about to kick a piece of trash on the ground, rain erupted from the sky. In just a couple of seconds the uneven pavement was covered in puddles, like the heavens suddenly had opened up and dropped a swimming pool onto him. It didn’t take long for Kuroo to realise that he had to take cover somewhere, but the rain only seemed to get heavier. If he only had brought an umbrella, having to look for a shelter was just another task that Kuroo felt too tired to deal with. He could make out the silhouette of trees in the distance though. Better than nothing, he thought. He was about to start half sprinting towards the grove of trees, but something had caught his foot. He was barely able to straighten up before tripping, but managed to somehow regain his balance. He looked down and found that the object that almost made him fall face down in the concrete was, in fact, an umbrella. He picked it up and quickly opened it. It was soaked after lying outside in the rain, and it had a few holes here and there. Even so, Kuroo was grateful for any kind of shelter. He decided to take cover under the trees anyway, just to wait until the rain stopped. After all, he hated getting wet more than anything.

He jumped in surprise when he felt something stroke against his leg. He looked down and found a soaked cat by his feet. Its black fur was hanging like wet rags off the cat, and Kuroo couldn’t help but to feel pitiful for the cat.

“Come here,” Kuroo whispered in a soft voice while picking up the cat. It made no resistance at all, and seemed happy to be taken care of. Kuroo opened his jacket and wrapped the cat into the fabric of his oversized coat, trying to dry the miserable animal. Even though the wind was freezing and the rain was aggressively whipping his face, it felt alright now when he had company.  
Half an hour passed, but the rain didn’t seem to slow down. At this rate, Suga would get home before him. He decided to head home instead, and carefully put the cat in the big pocket on his hoodie.

The rain was extremely loud, but Kuroo still heard footsteps behind him. The sound of splashing water, and heavy panting. He turned around as he felt an intensive gaze burning into his neck, to meet a pair of grey-green eyes. Kuroo stopped in his step and stared back at the familiar raven haired boy. The cat Kuroo had carried with him suddenly clawed out of the pocket and jumped up to the other boy, meowing violently. It went back and forth over his feet, forcefully stroking against the boy’s legs. Kuroo felt betrayed, why would the cat like that thief better than him? But he was of course used to usually being fonder of the animal than the animal was of him. The boy took a step forward, looking Kuroo from head to toes. Kuroo suddenly got the urge to cover up, despite being wrapped up in layers of warm clothing.

“Are you following me or something?” Kuroo’s words didn’t come out just as threatening as they were supposed to. The young man didn’t show much response, but instead took another step towards Kuroo. Kuroo was about to say something else when he got cut off by the boy grabbing his hand.

“What-“

“That’s my umbrella,” the boy said coldly. Kuroo looked up in surprise and knocked away the boy’s hand. He could feel his cheeks starting to heat, and prayed that the boy wouldn’t notice the blush that tinted his cheeks.

“It’s not, find your own,” Kuroo spat venomously, once again failing to put any real strength into his words.

“It’s mine, stop being a pain and give it to me” The boy answered blankly.

“I don’t want to,” Kuroo said, tilting his head to the left.

“Hand it over, or else I’ll-“

“You’ll what, exactly?” Kuroo said, taking a big step forward and grabbing the neckline of the boy’s grey hoodie. He suddenly realised how painfully close they were. Kuroo was a few inches taller than the boy, and he could feel his breath brushing across his face. He had to concentrate to not drop his gaze down to the boy’s lips, and barely noticed when he spoke.

“It’s got my name on it, look” the boy said, pointing to the handle of the umbrella. Kuroo let go of the boy and brought the umbrella to his face.

“Akaashi,” Kuroo read out loud. The boy, Akaashi apparently, nodded slowly. Kuroo simply just turned around and started to walk again. Why would he care if it was Akaashi’s umbrella? And for that matter Akaashi had probably stolen it in the first place.

It didn’t take long at all to arrive at Sugas apartment, and he let out a sigh of relief when he turned the keys around and pushed the door open. He neatly put his suitcase and shoes in the corner of the room, and was just about to hang off his soaked coat when he accidentally knocked something over. The umbrella. He picked it up and followed the carving with the tip of his finger. It didn’t make sense, why would Akaashi want this old thing back? It wasn’t even in good condition, with lots of holes and lose threads. Why the hell would someone carve their name into an old, worn out umbrella?

He pushed away the thoughts and moved into the living room. It wasn’t necessarily big, but it was stylishly decorated with a grey couch in contrast with the white walls. There was a big TV on the opposite wall, and the room was filled with green healthy-looking plants. There was an opening in the living room leading to the kitchen, and some other doors that Kuroo remembered lead to a bedroom and a bathroom. He had been there many times before, but it had been awhile since the last time. It was always exciting to go on treasure hunts in the apartment, but he was too tired for the moment. He changed into sweatpants but didn’t bother to put on a new shirt, and sprawled himself out on the sofa. He picked up the TV-remote and started to browse through the channels, not looking for anything in particular. There were mostly cooking and sports channels, and he decided to stay on a volleyball match that barely looked mildly interesting. He had almost fallen asleep when he heard the door being opened and closed quietly. There was some muffling and then Suga appeared beside the TV.

“It looks like I won’t have to tell you to feel at home,” Suga said and sat down next to Kuroo on the sofa. Kuroo sat up and shuffled to the side to give Suga some place. Suga was right, he felt more like home in this apartment than in his own. He looked up at Suga and noticed him staring at his chest.

“Admiring the view?” Kuroo smirked, flexing his muscles.

“Shut up, it’s just… have you been working out lately?” Suga said, putting a hand on one of Kuroo’s biceps. Kuroo found it amazing how Suga could do that kind of thing without blushing.

“Jeez, has Daichi been away for too long or something?” Kuroo laughed, shifting position. Suga hit Kuroo’s chest playfully and laughed away Kuroo’s comment.

“No, it’s just that you work out when you’re stressed,” Suga answered, giving Kuroo one of his soft mom-glares. Kuroo formed a silent “oh” with his lips and sat up properly. He had forgotten how well Suga actually knew him.

“It’s nothing, I’ve been having a hard time at school, that’s all,” Suga nodded and Kuroo could feel what was going to come next.

“So, have you talked to Kenma lately?” Kuroo froze when he heard Kenma’s name.

“We’ve been busy,” It wasn’t a smooth answer, but nothing about Kenma was smooth at the moment. They had gotten into a fight about two months ago, and hadn’t spoken since. Kuroo felt bad, it was mostly his fault. Kenma had been stressing about something, and Kuroo had insisted on him taking some days off. He had refused, but Kuroo kept pushing him. It all led up to Kenma getting a full blown panic attack, and it was all because of Kuroo. There was nothing that Kuroo wanted more than to talk to his kitten again, but it was Kenma who had taken the distance, and he respected him. He’d never thought the younger boy would do that well without him though.

“I bought some pork buns on the way back, would you want some before sleeping?” Suga asked, noticing how quiet Kuroo got as soon as he brought up Kenma.

“Hell yes,” Kuroo answered, trying to ignore how tired he’d gotten after thinking of Kenma. Suga went into the kitchen and came back with two steaming hot pork buns, and held one out for Kuroo. Kuroo reached out and took it, taking in the delicious smell.

“Where’s Sawamura by the way?” Kuroo asked, mouth full of food. He noticed how Suga twitched when he mentioned Daichi, but his expression stayed calm.

“Oh, he’s in Osaka. He’ll come home in a week or two,” Suga answered, a bit tense. Kuroo raised his eyebrows but Suga shoot him a warm smile, so he let it go.

“So if Daichi’s away for the moment, can I sleep in your bed?” Kuroo joked, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. Suga playfully hit his chest again, and laughed loudly.

“I think you should stop flirting with me, or I don’t know what I’ll do,” Suga laughed, getting up from the sofa. Kuroo sent him a wink and laid down on the sofa again. Suga threw him a blanket and took off his shirt, flashing a pale, slightly smaller chest. Kuroo whistled under his breath as Suga laughed again, one of his fantastically beautiful laughs. The ones he stored just for Daichi and Kuroo.

“I won’t be here when you wake up, so don’t trash the apartment while I’m gone,” Suga said, heading for the bedroom. Kuroo hummed an answer and close his eyes. He was absolutely exhausted, so sleep came easily. Thoughts of Kenma, Daichi and even Akaashi were still roaming in his head, but they soon faded into deep dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayye this was kind of short but thanks for reading it anyways. I hope it was somehow readable, hehe.  
> As usual, I love every type of feedback so if you have any concerns or suggestion feel free to contact me! ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. Again.  
> Yes, this is so so late, but at least it's a bit longer than the previous chapters so hopefully that makes up for it. I'm not especially happy with this chapter, but I didn't know how to rewrite it so the best thing was to just get it over with and post. Even though this chapter doesn't feel completely right, I finally have an idea of how this will turn out. I think know where I'm going now, so thank you if you keep reading.  
> Thanks again to my amazing beta readers and friends, Isaure and Dani. You're the best.

9:00, 9am

Just as Suga had said, he was gone when Kuroo woke up. He had left a message on the kitchen counter, telling Kuroo that he could heat up some rice omelette from the fridge. Kuroo happily stuffed his mouth with the food, thanking heaven for Suga’s amazing cooking. He liked staying in their apartment, there was always delicious food and amazing company. Well, except for the times when Suga and Daichi were out working. Which they’d been a lot lately, more than usual actually. As far as Kuroo knew, they had a stable economy and didn’t really need five extra jobs. But he didn’t want to be nosy, and he found it quite impolite to ask such a thing. After washing up the dishes, Kuroo moved on to searching through the apartment. He probably shouldn’t have, but it wasn’t like they would know. It was kind of a routine by now, going through all the drawers and cabinets every time he visited them. He started with going through the kitchen, but didn’t really find anything interesting. Except for a soup ladle that looked like a dinosaur, which kind of made him wonder. He then moved on to the living room where he found all seven seasons of Gilmore girls, and a weirdly shaped plastic thing that he didn’t really want to know what it was. He started to go through the bedroom too, but stopped when he found a drawer full of condoms. Slightly disgusted, he went and sat down on the sofa again. He was pretty eager to go out and wander around in the streets, but the pouring rain wasn’t too appealing. Instead, he made himself a cup of coffee and sat down to watch some Gilmore girls episodes.

12:00, 12am

There was a knock on the door, and Kuroo got up to open it. He had forgotten that he wasn’t wearing anything but sweatpants, and got quite surprised when Akaashi turned out to be standing on the doorstep.

“Suga-“ Akaashi was cut off when he realised it wasn’t Suga who’d opened the door.

“I’m not Suga, obviously,” Kuroo answered coldly. He could feel Akaashi glancing down at his stomach, and to be honest it made him feel kind of good.

“I noticed, why the hell are you here?” Akaashi said, his tone considerably harsher. Kuroo was about to close the door when Akaashi put a hand out. He had spotted the umbrella in the corner of the hall.

“That’s my umbrella,” he said, taking a step into the hall.

“Hey, who said you could enter?” Kuroo said, grabbing Akaashi’s arm. Akaashi looked up at Kuroo from under his long, dark eyelashes and freed himself from the grip.

“Give it to me, then,” Akaashi seemed tired, not putting as much strength into his words.

“I told you, I don’t want to,” Kuroo teased, lowering his voice. Akaashi opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again.

“In that case, come with me instead,” he said slowly, shifting weight on his hips.

“If Suga’s not here, you help me instead,” Akaashi continued, waiting for Kuroo’s reaction. Kuroo was about to shut the door on him, but hesitated for a moment.

"Why would I ever help you?" he said.

"You stole my umbrella, you owe me one." ¨

Warning signs pretty much flashed in front of Kuroo's eyes, but he still took a moment to consider going with the young man. This might actually be a great opportunity to get to know a bit about him, Kuroo thought. If Suga was friends with Akaashi, he probably wasn’t aware that he was stealing from his store.

“Actually, that sounds fair,” Kuroo answered. He was after all very curious of the cigarette smoking thief. Kuroo grabbed a shirt on the way out and closed the door behind them.

“You lead the way,” Kuroo said, putting his earphones in his ears. Akaashi snorted and started to walk down the street.

His apartment wasn’t too far away, but it sure was shabbier. The area was dirtier and darker than the rest of Shinsekai, and the apartments were tightly hugging on to each other, as if they’d crumble down if they weren’t. The bricks were covered with graffiti, mostly nonsense, but a black eagle caught Kuroo’s eye. Unlike the rest of the pictures, the eagle was clean and untouched by any other spray paint. Kuroo noticed how Akaashi flickered his eyes, and he took out his earphones.

“Just follow me,” Akaashi said, pushing Kuroo’s back lightly. Akaashi reached down and picked up a key from a broken crock and put it in the keyhole, turning it slowly while putting his weight on the door. The door soon enough clicked open, and Kuroo followed Akaashi into a cramped staircase. It smelled a lot like nicotine, making Kuroo gag. They went up the stairs and stopped outside a white door with a broken glass pane.

“The lock is broken, just don’t cut yourself on the glass shards,” Akaashi said, gesturing Kuroo to step in before him. Kuroo did as Akaashi said, and stepped into the apartment. It wasn’t shabby as Kuroo had expected, but it was a big difference from Suga’s neat apartment.

“The stove’s not working, fix it,” Akaashi ordered, taking off his shoes. The stove? Kuroo didn’t know shit about repairing stoves. Since he was a terrible cook, he even tended to avoid them.

“Why would you go to Suga to ask for help with fixing your stove?” It didn’t make any sense to Kuroo, Suga was good at housework, but he wasn't anything of a handyman.

“It’s simple, he’s the only one in this place that wouldn’t want to kill or beat me up,” Akaashi answered, face blank. The response didn’t make Kuroo any wiser, he was starting to wonder if Akaashi was completely mental.

“There’s some tools under the sink, and don’t get too comfy,” Akaashi said, heading in to what Kuroo guessed was the bathroom.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Kuroo muttered back, stepping into the kitchen. He looked over at the stove, and barely even got surprised when he saw that it was completely trashed. The stove top had a big crack running through it, and the oven parts didn’t seem to be working at all. How the hell did Akaashi manage to fuck it up this badly? He picked up the tools and pushed out the wreck of a stove to the middle of the floor. There was nothing he could do about the cracks and lose parts, but he might be able to get at least one of the hobs working again. Kuroo had been working for approximately forty minutes when he finally managed to get the energy flowing again. Not more than fifteen minutes later, one of the hobs finally worked properly. Ten minutes more, and both the hobs were as good as new. Well, at least as new as they could get after (what it seemed like) have been beaten repeatedly with a baseball bat.

“Hey fucker, I’m done,” Kuroo shouted, banging his head in one of the shelves on the way up.

“Would you mind not shouting,” Akaashi said, entering the kitchen. Kuroo snorted and wiped off his hands on his pants. Akaashi looked surprised when he saw the perfectly working hobs.

“The oven’s still not working though?” Akaashi said, going up to the stove.

“That’d be impossible, know your limits pretty boy,” Kuroo couldn’t stop himself before it slipped out.

“You think I’m pretty?” Akaashi grinned, crossing his arms. Kuroo felt his cheeks heating again, why the hell did he blush so easily?

“Whatever, I’m out,” Kuroo mumbled, picking up the tools and putting them back under the sink. Akaashi was about to follow him out of the kitchen, but Kuroo stopped him.

“I’ll find my way out myself, thanks,” He hissed, pushing Akaashi out of the way. He got a glimpse of the rest of the apartment on his way out, which was surprisingly big. Unnecessarily big for one person.

“See you around,” Akaashi half-shouted behind him when Kuroo made his way out of the building. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to see Akaashi around, but he memorized the address anyway. He memorized the smell of nicotine too, and the broken crocks and spray painted walls. Maybe he wanted to see Akaashi around after all, but just maybe.

14:00, 2pm Suga was already back when Kuroo came home. He was sitting in the big double bed he and Daichi shared with his legs crossed, deeply sunken into a heavy looking book. He was wearing big reading glasses, and his face was scrunched up cutely.

“You’re already home?” Kuroo asked in surprise, jumping onto the bed.

“I’ve been home for about one hour now,” Suga answered, putting down the book and tucking his messy curls behind his ear.

“Where have you been though?” He continued, shifting position so that he was facing Kuroo.

“Oh, Um, Akaa-“ he began, quite startled by the question.

“Akaashi?” Suga’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline as he leaned forward. He looked like a question mark.

“I was just helping him out with, you know, stuff,” Kuroo stammered.

“You two know each other?” Suga asked, frowning his eyebrows.

“I know who he is,” Kuroo mumbled, starting to feel uncomfortable.

“You do?”

“I mean, I know his name at least. And his address,”

Suga leaned even closer, placing a hand on Kuroo’s shoulder.

“You went to his apartment?” Suga asked, widening his eyes.

“He just needed help with repairing some stuff,” Kuroo answered, more confused than ever.

“Suga, what the hell is up?” He continued.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just, the area, you shouldn’t go there. It’s kind of… dangerous. You should stay away,” Suga blurted out, stumbling over his words.

“It’s not like I’d like to go back anyway,” Kuroo said, almost a bit too fast.

“Really? Why not?” There was suddenly no trace of Suga’s bothered expression, just a look of pure curiosity on his face. Kuroo was once again startled by the question, not able to come up with a decent answer.

“Y-you said it said it yourself, it’s dangerous,” He stammered, standing up. Suga just looked at him with a weird face, like trying to read his mind.

“Also,” Kuroo continued, taking a deep breath on his way out of the room, “He’s a dick,”.

Kuroo heard a quiet chuckle when closing the door behind him. He went straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was lots of food, but he really wasn’t hungry yet. Just restless. It was like he’d been waiting for something to happen ever since he left Akaashi’s neighbourhood. He felt a cold breeze brush past his exposed arms, and turned his head to the open window above the kitchen sink. It was pretty cold, so he reached up to close the window. Suga and Daichi had a lot of stuff on the walls, and Kuroo accidentally knocked down a small calendar that was fastened on the wall. He bent down to pick it up after closing the window, and noticed the date. The 16th of November. The day before Kuroo’s 23rd birthday, it hit him. Well shit. Kuroo usually enjoyed his birthdays, he used to spend them with Kenma. Last year Yamaguchi and even Tsukishima joined. It had been great, but he didn’t have any Kenma to celebrate with this year. There was even a possibility that Kenma had forgotten about Kuroo’s birthday. Kuroo decided to stop thinking about that, because he kind of felt like crying now.

“Hey suga, you know what day it is tomorrow?” Kuroo shouted, putting back the calendar on the wall. Suga came out of the bedroom shortly afterwards.

“It’s Wednesday, I think” he answered, walking over to the counter.

“Actually, it’s Thursday,” Kuroo sighed, moving to the side to make some space for Suga.

“Sure, why?” Suga said, taking out two pastel blue cups from a cupboard.

“Oh you know, it’s just my birthday,” Kuroo answered, trying to sound like he didn’t really care. Suga widened his eyes and almost dropped the coffee cup.

“Is it the 26th already!?”

“Damnit Suga, my birthday is the 17th!” Suga held his head in his hands and made a couple of strange noises.

“Oh god I’m sorry, I swear I knew that,” he cried.

“I’m a bit hurt actually, I honestly thought we were friends,” Kuroo said, faking a sad tone. It did bother him that Suga forgot about his birthday, but he wouldn’t let it show. Suga slowly fell to floor, still covering his face with his hands.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, I’m not mad,” Kuroo said as he saw Suga’s reaction.

“But I’m going away tomorrow, damnit! I’m supposed to help Daichi out in Osaka for a few days!” Suga wailed from the floor. That actually made Kuroo sad, now he wasn’t able to celebrate his birthday with any friend at all.

“That’s alright! We can just celebrate now or something!” Kuroo said, hiding his disappointment behind a big smile.

“You sure?” Suga asked, peeking up from under his hands. Kuroo nodded, flicking Suga’s head with a smirk.

“I’ll bake a cake then!” Suga shoot up, immediately starting to search for a cook book. Kuroo laughed and started to walk out of the kitchen to watch some more Gilmore girls. It shouldn’t have hurt him that much that Suga didn’t remember his birthday, he was a grown man for fuck’s sake. But it did anyway.

15:30, 3:30 pm

After a lot of clattering and clinking coming from the kitchen, Suga stuck out his head from the doorway.

“You like the combination of chocolate and bananas the most, right?” He asked, stroking back his tousled hair. Kuroo nodded, he did like bananas and chocolate the most. But that was mostly because Kenma’s favourite was bananas, and Kuroo’s was chocolate. Together, they made a delicious pair, as him and Kenma had discovered together a few years ago. Damnit! He was thinking of Kenma again. He travelled to Shinsekai just to forget about Kenma in the first place. Spending time with Daichi and Suga was supposed to have been relaxing, but it turned out to be the complete opposite.

“I’m going to the store real quick to pick up some ingredients, I’ll be right back!” Suga said on his way to the small hall. Kuroo just hummed an answer without turning his gaze away from the TV. He heard the door shut, and decided to go out in the kitchen to see how the cake was doing. He knew that Suga was a great cook, but what he didn’t know was how messy of a cook he was. There was literally flour all over the floor, and Kuroo believed he might’ve stepped in some milk. It was lucky that Suga was such a great cleaner, or the kitchen would’ve been doomed. Kuroo somehow made it to the chairs without getting fully covered in ingredients, and sat down at the small wooden table. He’d thought about it, and maybe being by himself on his birthday wasn’t too bad. He could get out and take a couple of drinks, not having to worry about anyone else. Getting drunk seemed like a wonderful idea, and Kuroo planned out the evening in his head. Suga would probably leave pretty early, so he had the whole day for himself. Perfect, he was looking forward to drowning his feelings in vodka.

Suga returned after about forty minutes, struggling with two overflowing plastic bags.

“You went shopping in the apron?” Kuroo asked when he saw the apron still clinging from Suga’s waist. It didn’t make the case any better that there were toned abs printed on the apron. Suga’s face turned bright red as he looked down at his chest.

“Please don’t tell Daichi about this,” He begged, placing the bags on the little space that was available on the kitchen counter.

“I’ll see about that,” Kuroo chuckled, getting up from the chair.

“I’ll leave you to it then,” . Suga had soon finished the cake. The smell of chocolate filled the apartment and made it impossible to stay away from the kitchen. Suga was just lighting some candles on the top of the cake as he noticed Kuroo peeking into the kitchen.

“Go sit at the table!” Suga demanded. Kuroo did as he was told and went to sit down at the table. The mess was now replaced with balloons and other colourful decorations. Suga had really made an effort, and Kuroo wholeheartedly appreciated it. The cake itself also looked amazing. Chocolate frosting, topped with sliced bananas and more chocolate. Five red- and black candles were placed at the top and finished off the cake perfectly. Suga carried the cake to the table while singing happy birthday on the top of his lungs. His voice was just as heavenly as you’d imagine, soft and pleasant.

“Oh man, do I have to wish for something now?” Kuroo laughed as Suga had finished singing and placed the cake in front of him. He tried to think of something to wish for, but surprisingly enough all that appeared in his head was Akaashi. It startled him, and he quickly blew out all the candles in one blow. Wait, had he just wished for Akaashi?

“Hey, what’s up with your expression?” Suga smiled, cutting a big piece of cake and giving it to Kuroo. Kuroo laughed it away and put a fork in the delicious-looking cake. He put a big piece in his mouth and hummed out of satisfaction as the taste of chocolate and banana spread in his mouth. Truly delicious. He gave Suga a thumbs up and stuffed his face with more cake. After they finished eating Suga brought out a present from under the table. Kuroo hadn’t expected him to buy anything, so it was a bit of a surprise when he opened the neatly wrapped gift and found a volleyball inside. He looked up at Suga in surprise.

“I saw it, and thought of you. I know how much you used to enjoy volleyball,” Suga said, half smiling. It was true, Kuroo used to love volleyball. He and Kenma had been playing together ever since they were kids, but they’d quit a couple of years ago because of school. Kuroo held the volleyball in his hands and felt the familiar material with his fingertips. And of course; it reminded him of Kenma. Suga must’ve noticed Kuroo’s empty expression and took the volleyball.

“It’s getting late, and I have to get up early tomorrow. We should probably sleep now,” he said, starting to clear the table. Kuroo agreed and got up to help. The kitchen was soon nice and clean, except for some balloons on the floor. Kuroo was about to throw them away, but Suga insisted that they’d leave them. For the atmosphere, apparently. Kuroo stopped on the way out of the kitchen and turned back to Suga, he had forgotten to thank him.

“Hey, thanks a lot, I mean it,” he said, smiling brightly. It really did mean a lot to him, and he had enjoyed it, even though Kenma wasn’t there. Suga just waved it away with a soft smile and went back to washing the dishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading that. Tbh, I'm noticing myself drifting away from anime. It's probably just temporary, but it's possible that I won't be writing anything for quite a while. This chapter has tbh been almost ready to post for pretty long now, I just couldn't really find the motivation to edit it and get it done. It's kinda sad, bc I really don't want to give up on this story yet, I've barely started with it! Anyway, I really hope I'll find some motivation to continue writing soon. Happy (late) easter everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading the first chapter! I'll try to update this fic as frequently as possible, but I'm still new to this thing so I can't promise too much.  
> If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions I'd be nothing but happy to be contacted! Thanks again!  
> My ig: @tetsurousexual


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